It's All About The Music
DGT – Jessie I understand that you are an accomplished journalist, having published articles in several major newspapers, many websites and Blogs across the United States. Before we delve into who you are as an artist and songwriter, tell us how you developed the desire for journalism- in which we find you are really quite gifted.
JT- Well, I've always been passionate about writing & using words to capture what's going on in the world... but like music, I sort of let it slip away only to circle back years later & really start pursuing it. I had a terrible 10th grade English teacher; she also ran the school newspaper... & I thought, writing about not having enough student parking is bullshit. If this is journalism, I want to do something important. But fast forward 5 years into my life after college in New York City, I was restless & inconsolable, tired of cubicles & eager to see the world. None of my bands had made it. I was working at these great activist organizations, but essentially stuck pushing papers. I had a relationship fall apart when my ex left for law school. It felt like time was moving & I was standing still. I knew I needed to make a move. And that move would have to make my voice & my purpose in life BIGGER. So I quit my job at the ACLU, applied to journalism school at Columbia & then took off to live & drum & sun & think in Brasil for five months. Some day, I'd love to return there as a journalist.
DGT- In a sense, it is almost as though you are two distinctive persons; the artist and the writer-journalist. You recently wrote an article called “ THE EXPLOSIVE RISE OF HATE GROUPS “ and you are a strong proponent for Human Rights. Is it hard to be the messenger of music, poetry and art by night, and the advocate for the freedoms and rights of others by day? How do you make the switch between the two… and what I mean is that we musicians and performing artists seldom know or worry about our artist brother or sister’s position on religion or politics, but out in the “ real “ world of business and society it is sometimes blatantly open - the corruption, discrimination and outright hatred for our fellow human beings?
JT- It is not hard for me to do both. It's just who I am. I mean, the reason I never went to music school is that I couldn't stand sitting around & talking guitar pedals & drum solos all night & ignoring the fact that there's a WORLD out there. And yes, that world has people being disappeared, raped, drowned, silenced, never having the chance to go to school or play the drums or (insert your dream here) just because they're a girl. But that world also has people falling in love, brass bands marching through the streets, sunlight reflecting off of rain puddles, 5-year-olds who speak in poetry more intuitive and amazing than I could ever write. We need to talk about the oppressive things, shake our fists at them, not turn our backs on the unlucky & we need to believe we can band together and do something. At the same time, life's too precious not to celebrate the awesome magical delightful coincidences and bits of poetry falling from the sky. For me, life & experiencing the world always comes first. My music is always trying to catch up to the way I live & understand the world. It makes me optimistic about the records I'll be making 5 years from now. I write the songs that come to me. And so far, it's felt forced to write songs about the social justice issues I'd write articles about. I do go out of my way on my Facebook page to share links to articles I find interesting or post a comment I know will spur discussion. But I do that to embolden people to think about freedom & to be inspired. I'm only now hitting that point, where my fanbase has grown, I live in Texas, albeit the liberal oasis of Austin), and there's a real chance that by airing my political beliefs, and talking about what's wrong with the world, I will piss some people off. There's always a price to pay for being yourself though, and really, in this case, it's not about what I believe. It's more about someone out there being hurt or doing something inspiring that deserves notice. You better believe if you hand me a microphone, I'm going to use it.
DGT-On the lighter side of the Life-coin Jessie, what makes you laugh in this crazy world of ours?
JT- Everything. The journalist in me is always watching. I often catch something that makes me crack up & no one else knows why. The way little kids skip down the street. Or my guitarist swivels his hips onstage. New moons. Riding my scooter. Lily Allen lyrics. My friends, constantly. I am only serious when it comes to my own dreams & ambitions. I'm pretty light-hearted and a 5-star wisecracker in the rest of my life.
DGT-You were originally a drummer in a number of Northeastern US bands. How did you learn to play drums and other instruments, and when was it that you knew you should step out front leaving the drums behind you and to build the show around your music?
JT- Drums was the first instrument I fell in love with. I'd played clarinet, sax, piano... but they always fell by the wayside. I don't particularly remembering wanting to play the drums, (I mean *everyone* thinks it would be fun, right?) but I must have been saying I was dying to just as the band director was passing by. He confronted me the next day & told me to come by Friday afternoon for a lesson. A tremendous stroke of fortune. That year for Christmas, I inherited the silver sparkle Slingerland kit my uncle had played through his '20s and was now collecting dust. I banged away all my teen angst. It's still the kit I use. How did I know it was time to leave? I played in a lot of bands, and they were often mismanaged. Friday night rehearsals would devolve into fights. People often said they wanted to be collaborative in writing songs... but then egos always got in the way. The ration of drama & B-S to actual creative outpouring was way out of whack. Some bands were great. They were a few near misses and music biz heartbreaks. But mostly, the bands I played with never toured much. We never made a record I heard on the radio or Pandora or saw at the Virgin Megastore. In my opinion, New York is a really rough place to make these things happen. But at some point, I realized that I had been trusting everyone but myself. If I was going to do it, then *I* would have to do it.
DGT- What made you decide to move to Austin Texas?
JT- Really, I made Bruler Bruler as a bit of an experiment, a final gesture before leaving New York. But it set a whole train in motion. I guess a part of me knew I wanted to give one more try -- for once, an all-out, no plan B, serious try -- to making music my life before I could admit it. I'd lived in Bahia one winter and New Orleans another. I realized that when I was someplace less achievement-oriented, I would be a lot more productive. I think feeling the looseness & freedom in the air, the "it's ok to sing off-key & start at the beginning or do it just for the love of it" attitude is really important for me. Plus, I was tanner, happier, more well-rested in other cities. I did my 10 years in New York; I love it to death. But I don't love seeing good friends once a month, having half the people you're with checking their iPhones during the cramped hour you have to hang out, always jockeying for a table at restaurants. Or trying to tell a personal story while shouting in a crowded bar. Or taking a subway to the bus to the dark smelly drum practice space. Or being told the way to become a buzz band is to play once a month or have a famous lover. There's a certain awe & existential loneliness I always feel the moment I see the New York skyline. Brooklyn is the lover I will never get over; my friends there are some of the most incredible people I have ever met. Talent, heart, drive. But it was just time to do something new. To be somewhere that was would set me free a bit more. I was involved in so many things in New York. I knew I would never be able to be reinvent myself, not this way. Once the album was made, I wanted to see how far I could run with it. I just knew New York wasn't the place.
DGT-Tell us about the current lineup of musicians who accompany you on stage. Who are they and why are they the perfect compliments to express your songs?
JT- Well my Austin band is pretty smokin'. We are called The Please, Please Me & I think we manage to put over an energy that is pleasing & playful & provocative, but also puts desire & the need to be vulnerable & go ALL THE WAY to grab it on display.
Carl Ryals -- amazing drummer and I am picky! I found him at a hippie gospel brunch. He had a margarita in his hand, said "sure i'll play with you," then jumped into the back of a station wagon with only drumsticks in his hand to drive to Mardi Gras.
Alissa Schram -- cellist. my best friend's girlfriend. She was playing in a flute choir when I met her, but when I learned she had a cello collecting dust at her parents' place, well... the rest is history. There's a few songs where she'll grab the electric bass & i'll play the drums. We like to play musical chairs.
Raul Vallejo -- Trombone That's right; Trombone in an indie pop/Americana band. It's like lighting a fire onstage. He's a snake charmer. He puts people pelvises in motion.
Paul Mercurio -- Bass - I met Paul when I was left high & dry a week before a tour to Colorado. This was the first tour & I had worked so hard to line up those gigs. I was devastated. In 30 seconds, he learned the songs & had these great ideas of how to reinvent them as rock songs. To help me truly go electric. I love upright bass, but it had kept the energy in check in a certain way. He's a riot to travel with & a real gentleman on the road.
Carlos Mendoza -- Electric Guitar Carlos is my McCartney. He's a master at melody & doing the unexpected. I bring him half-written songs & he instantly hones in on how to deliver a hook in a way that makes the audience hang on every line. He takes forever to craft a line but it's so musical when he does. Onstage, he can't NOT move. Or smile & shimmy. We're not a bunch of white dudes (no disrespect to all the great music created by bands of white dudes, but....) & I'm really proud of that. (not to be quoted verbatim, but we have the blond bombshell, the Mexican Elvis, the tall skinny philosophizing black guy, a fellow Guido Yankee like me, another amazing Latino border town horn player)
DGT-When you write a song how is it born? Is it a dream, a sudden inspiration or an intentional move to create on the spot?
JT- All of those. The best songs come when a line jumps into my head... the words & melody at once. Usually, they do this when I'm nowhere I can possibly stop what I'm doing & write a song. Sometimes, they start as pages of lyrics. Less often, a little guitar riff. Very often, I'm totally obsessed with someone else's song -- & I play it on repeat 'til I start to imagine how I might write that type of song. Half of these end up as writing exercises, or experiments... but half end up as songs that are uniquely mine & don't sound anything like the original. DGT- Jessie, the first time I heard your voice I thought I’d heard a voice like yours a long time ago, maybe from records of the 1940’s but never was able to identify that voice. Then I realized that you were unique- not like anyone else currently recording and performing and that’s a great thing but still, I wonder who were some of your vocal influences. JT- Thanks for the compliment. I don't really have vocal influences. Not consciously. I mean, I haven't studied enough or been singing long enough. But for sure, I grew up on jazz.... studying drums. The jazz inflections & coolness definitely sunk in. The desire to be behind the beat. And to throw some clever & naughty sexual innuendos in there. What's in my iPod is very eclectic. Ryan Adams, Feist, Thao & the Get Down, Stay Down, Lauryn Hill, Madeleine Peyroux, Tina Turner. I go through very short phases where I try to sing along to what I'm listening to & mimic it. I've probably done this most with Otis Redding (blush, smirk), and Al Green. I get weak in the knees for Motown.
DGT- You came up with a most original name for your CD, “ Bruler Bruler “. What does it mean to you?
JT- Well what it means literally is "burn burn" in French. I got it into my head that I wanted to do something in another language; it just seemed fresher & also seemed to reflect the idea that the music, at least the experiences & inspiration that spawned it came from all over the globe. Not in terms of being worldbeat, but in terms of my life & my identity as a musician & poet & romancer. I wanted to do Italian, since my name Torrisi is Sicilian. Or Spanish, since my other half is Puerto Rican. But I couldn't quite find anything that felt right. Bruler Bruler was the first thing I thought of and it just worked. To me, it's one big metaphor about chasing desire, at all costs. I have a song I'm about to record called Start a Fire. I guess flames are a theme with me. Sometimes, it's burns bright for a moment, and you spend ages trying to get back there. Sometimes it burns you & there's no positive way to spin it. Sometimes the chasing & the mistakes are the thrill.
DGT- This may be a difficult question because artists are generally proud of all their works – but if there were a “ Top Two “ songs on the album you’d like everyone to own, which would they be?
JT- Hungry Like Me; I feel like it captures a decade of wanting & longing & chasing & finally realizing it's not just about having or catching, but about finding someone worth chasing. As I was finishing writing the songs for this record, it was less, "why does no one love me?" And more, "why is it so hard to find someone who has that pizazz I do?" A sparkle that matches. If you really go for it, being who you are, you end up being someone quite unique. That makes finding a match that much harder. Plus, I like the rebellion in that song & I like that I get to leap around the stage like a maniac & jump between guitar & shakers live. & Storm Clouds because that's probably the first great song I wrote. The oldest one on here for sure. And it's very true, very revealing in a way I don't always like to be. X in teXas is damn fun to play live too though with the trombone & all.
DGT- Jessie, when you record a song in the studio is it done pretty much “ live “ with the whole band or do you do something like go in and lay down the various parts, since you play several instruments – then have the group come in and overdub or make changes?
JT- Well, this time around we recorded me, bass, drums live... then started dream imagining how we could use that skeleton & do something weird, cool, totally honest with it. I imagine now that I have a bigger band & we play a lot more, some of this imagining will be done before we even hit the studio. I also know how I work with Will Berlind, my producer now, so I'll probably be a bit more daring. But I like going in knowing the melody, the lyrics, the sense of what it's about is there... but it still being a sketch. And trying to approach the studio as this magical mysterious universe where new things are possible. I can't wait to record the next one because now I actually have a clue what I'm doing though I'll try not to let that get in the way.
DGT- Who do you listen to today who is current and why? JT- Anyone super unique, who I feel like has found themselves in a way that can't be imitated Regina Spektor, god I love her ! Ben Sollee, who I really hope to tour with at some point Thao Nguyen who I love *and* also am lobbying to tour with Feist Great old jazz Sara Bareilles Hockey The Strokes The barrage of "anti-folk artists" popping up in NYC right now My friends, or find people that share some of the places/venues/paths i'm on. I seek them out & try to connect. It helps to have friends in this business, to excite each other.
DGT- The changes of the music industry and the rise of a strong Indie presence has been a shock to the major labels Jessie? More Independent downloads being sold online than full CD’s from the big boys out of established retail centers , so where do you think this industry is headed ?
JT- Oh, you got me. I'm sure some structures will emerge to replace the old ones. For now, it's old school with a lot of networking via the internet mixed in. Meaning, get in the van & go. You better have a great show. You got to build your own crowd. And yes giving away music seems to be a part of that. But honestly, I feel like I'm trying to get myself halfway up the mountain so I learn to be a great artist the honest way & build fans the loyal way... I hope I get there, I will hook up with a label, booking agent, licensing agent, the whole team. I'm over believing I can do everything by myself. But I do do as much as I can. And then some.
DGT- What will be your legacy Jessie? Do you want to be remembered for your work for social change and human rights, for your music or both?
JT- I want to be remembered for my music. I don't want a legacy in human rights. I want there to have human rights. And if anyone is going to take credit for it, I hope it's activists in the countries and cities and towns that are fighting - literally with their lives or careers or reputations - for it. There are some journalists whom I really admire and are on the frontlines of pushing it forward. But honestly, it's not me. It's Nicholas Kristoff & Mandela & Aung Suu San Kyi & a thousand people you never heard of. I want there to be great music in the world too... but there already is great music everyone you turn if you know where to look. I just hope more & more of it can come out of me. That I'll write great songs & in doing so, discover cheesy at it sounds the essence of being alive.
DGT-What keeps you motivated and inspired?
JT- Oh, that's never been a problem. I desperately want to write brilliant songs & make people's jaws drop, & leave my mark on the world... or simply become such an undeniable musical force that I stop worrying about how/when/where I'm going to "make it." Also, new experiences. I crave them, I find them, I ride them out, and then I sit back in awe at the new people I've met & the interesting little world they've opened up. And hopefully that makes it into a song.
DGT- What is on your music agenda for the remainder of 2010? We will keep the fans updated here of your changing schedule, as well as all links to your websites and blogs.
JT - Touring all summer, mostly East Coast & some festivals. Demo'ing a few of the hot new songs I've written as of late before I leave Austin. There'll be a radio push & video made for X in TeXas, which by the way, people can grab for free here if they want. (http://top40-charts.com/news/Pop-Rock/Jessie-Torrisi-Gives-Away-Another-Free-Song-Off-Bruler-Bruler-Called-X-In-Texas-Gotta-Listen!/56299.html) And by time fall hits, I'm really hoping that talks with a certain label or two who's expressed interest will lead to a green light & modest advance towards recording my next record. I'm close to ready! Yes, I'm on Facebook & Twitter like a maniac. People should definitely link hook up with me there... & hey, it's a big country. All it takes is a little arm twisting to get me to throw your town into the configuration for next tour.
EDITOR'S NOTE: My thanks to Katea over at XO Publicity for being so kind and patient with us in this time of transition for damngoodtunes.com. It was intended that this interview and article would be available in February but it was on our part that it couldn't be. I find Jessie to be one of the most unusual talented young women I have heard these past couple years. Her voice is such a compliment to her style of writing, like hand in glove she makes it fit perfectly. I'm forever a big fan!
Bruce M.
